Warfang: (Sky Realms Online Book 5): A LitRPG Series

by Troy Osgood

  “Yes.” Hall nodded. “You said the Expedition Company has found some new allies. I think they might be the Desmarik Republic.”

  “It would explain much. But why? What interest could these Desmarik have in Edin?”

  Hall shrugged. He had no idea.

  The Rangers’ ship was called a skiff. It was a small one-masted ship with two small engines mounted to the side. Barely enough space for the six-person crew to sleep. A single floor below deck. Above was the pilot’s station in the back, with a small ballista mounted on the front. Skiffs were fast airships, but could only carry the six sailors with no cargo. They only found use as scout or messenger ships.

  Three of the Rangers were on the Ridgerunner, leaving three others to guard the skiff.

  Hall didn’t see them at first.

  The ship was tied down, floating a dozen feet above the ground, ladder off the side. Lines were attached to the ground, others to the trees of the small forest next to the ship. Pines, a few oaks and birches. The copse sat alone, surrounded by hills of exposed rock and grassy plains. Hall didn’t see anyone on the ship or around the ground.

  He strained, trying to see the Rangers he knew were there.

  Skill Gain!

  Increased Perception Rank Two +.2

  In the branches of an oak, Hall saw a patch of green that was a slightly different color. Around the patch, the tree’s canopy looked like numerous black lines dividing up the green. Leaves, lots of them. But the patch had none.

  It was good, most people wouldn’t notice it, but Hall had.

  A Ranger was in the tree, watching them.

  Now that he knew where the Ranger was, Hall could see a slight shine as the sun caught the metal of an arrowhead.

  It didn’t take long to find the other two Rangers. One was at the base of a pine, the other deeper in the forest at the top of another pine.

  Dain had walked to the bow of the Ridgerunner, waving his hands in a series of complicated gestures. Near the bow, off to the side, Hall watched the patches of different color green disappear from the trees.

  Gerdi maneuvered the Ridgerunner to a stop, the engines rotating to help the ship hover in the sky. Lines were dropped down. Avril and Ganner went down first. As they descended, the three guards walked out of the trees. Each held a longbow, quiver at their waist. Dain stood at the railing, watching the other two climb down the ladders.

  “It is about a week’s journey to Timberhearth Keep,” Dain said, lifting a leg over the rail. “The skiff is not as fast as your ship.”

  “Gerdi will follow you and your pace,” Hall assured him.

  “We will need about an hour to prep the ship,” Dain said, his head disappearing below the rail as he rapidly climbed down the ladder.

  Hall headed aft to the pilot’s station to let Gorid and Gerdi know.

  True to Dain’s word, the voyage north took a week.

  The southern third of Edin was made up of grassy plains. Skara Brae and Breakridge were at the start of what was known as the highlands. Rocky ridges, high plains covered in exposed rocks and grass, forests of trees, hidden valleys. Rough but beautiful country. The Frost Tip Mountains were on the west, a barrier between the highlands and the island’s edge.

  Two days after picking up the skiff, they passed over the small mountain range that cut across Edin, dividing it into the northern and southern territories. Called Hadrick’s Wall, they were really low and rocky hills carved to resemble a wall. The southern territory was on the low side, the wall rising a hundred feet to the northern territory and the true highlands.

  Hall had not been north of Skara Brae yet. Everything looked like what he remembered pre-Glitch, when he had quested in these lands. But everything looked different.

  He had never seen it from the air before. It was hard to tell if there was anything new.

  They passed over small settlements. Most of Edin’s inhabitants lived in the major cities to the south, Auld and Silverpeak Keep, others in smaller towns and villages nearer the eastern edge. Very few lived in the harsh wilds. It was mostly nonhuman tribes. Hall remembered a large Firbolg town near the lower wall. There had been a herd of centaurs running across the hills a day ago, the half-human, half-horse creatures stopping as the shadows of the two airships passed over them. Hall tried to remember where the Wood Elf village was, but couldn’t find it. The largest, and really only, city in the northern territories belonged to the Highborn Confederacy. Ersofir was small by the Highborn standards. More of a trading port, a stop for their ships going from their lands and capital island of Arundel to other places.

  Once over the wall, they adjusted course to the west.

  It was near evening exactly a week later that Hall started to see the buildings that comprised Timberhearth Keep. The land sloped up to the west and the Frost Tips, the southern edge exposed rock face, two hundred feet at the mountains. The Frost Tips jutted out, forming the northern wall of the keep. A log palisade wall ran from the edge of the Tips down to the cliff, a watchtower on that end. Smaller towers framed the large double gates, a rough dirt road leading down the sloping land, disappearing in a large forest a couple of miles away.

  The buildings were all made of logs, with steep roofs that reached to the ground. Ridge beams extended beyond the roof, carved into many decorative shapes. Some of the larger buildings had dormers, giving more space on the upper floors, balconies in the gable ends.

  Most were on the sloping land, arranged in haphazard fashion on the shelves and flat parts of the land. The rest were on the sides of the mountain itself. Steps were formed, natural or formed, Hall wasn’t sure. Multiple levels with stairs carved into the mountain and wide paths curving up the sides. The two largest buildings were on the mountainside. On the highest shelf was the Rangers’ headquarters, Timberhearth itself.

  Three stories tall, the sloping roof stopped a story above the ground. Only one side, looking south over the cliff that it was set close to, had a large dormer, connecting to the first floor and extending above the ridge, the top level exposed as a watchtower. Balconies were on the east-facing gable, with views over the small village.

  Below it, on the first shelf, was a building not that much smaller. Hall recognized it, even from a distance. The place he should have been teleported to when the Glitch happened.

  The Green Craobh.

  The Ridgerunner flew over the plains where they flattened out, closer to the forest, then the walls of Timberhearth Keep. Ahead of them, the skiff was settling into a berth in a small dock. The mountains still continued out to the east before turning north again at the forest. Built at the base was a dock. A dozen feet above ground, the ships settled into berths a dozen feet from the mountain, another dozen or so feet of dock between them. Hall saw another half dozen skiffs and one larger two-masted ship at the far end of the dock.

  They shifted the Ridgerunner around at signals from a Ranger stationed on a high platform in the middle of the docks. Different colored flags indicated where and how the Ridgerunner was supposed to set down. There was no berth big enough for the ship, Gerdi having to bring it down in the middle of the plains, near the dirt road.

  Gerdi got the ship settled, lines thrown down to Rangers waiting. They secured the ship, leaving it about ten feet over the plains. Ladders were thrown over the side.

  “We’ll stay on ship for now,” Gorid told Hall.

  Beyond the captain, Hall could see the disappointed looks on the Battleforge brothers. They had been looking forward to a night in a tavern. Drinking and comfortable beds, not the hammocks in the bunks on board the ship. Gorid let them drink on the ship, they were Dwarves after all, but he kept it to a limit. Hall was sure they’d get off the ship soon enough. Herj Onyxshard pushed the brothers, making them focus on their job. Grumbling, they started tying a harness around Angus. The highland cow made it more difficult on them, constantly moving and kicking.

  “Once we meet with the Rangers and figure out the next move, we’ll let you know,” he said, swin
ging a leg over the railing.

  The rest of the Irregulars were already off the ship, waiting for Hall.

  Carefully, as the ladder moved in the wind and the constant motion of the ship, Hall climbed down. Feet on the ground, he saw that Dain was waiting. The other two were not in sight, either gone ahead or helping with the ship.

  “It is late,” Dain said. “We will not be able to meet with the council tonight. Rooms will be provided in the inn.”

  QUEST COMPLETE!

  You have accompanied Dain of the Green Cloak Rangers to Timberhearth Keep.

  THE GREEN CLOAK RANGERS I

  Journey with Dain to Timberhearth Keep 1/1

  Rewards: +200 Experience, +200 Faction Reputation With the Greencloak Rangers

  Meet with the Councilors of the Green Cloak Rangers. Learn more about the corruption plaguing the land and the threat of the demons.

  THE GREEN CLOAK RANGERS II

  Meet with the Councilors of the Green Cloak Rangers 0/1

  Rewards: +200 Experience, +300 Faction Reputation with the Greencloak Rangers

  Accept Quest?

  Hall was eager to get into Timberhearth Keep, to see just how much had changed. There were more buildings than he remembered, but that was true everywhere he had visited. The post-Glitch world was larger, more defined, more true. What other changes were there to Timberhearth?

  Chapter 25

  Hall woke early. The sun shined in through a sliver in the down curtains. Next to him on the wide bed, Leigh shifted, pulling the cover up tighter. She was on her side, facing away from him, the only way she could sleep so the antlers wouldn’t strike him.

  The first time they had slept in the same bed with the antlers, he had gotten stabbed. It had taken some doing, but they got used to them.

  Trying not to disturb her, Hall got out of bed.

  The room was decent sized, as were all the rooms at the Green Craobh. There were never many visitors to Timberhearth Keep, no need for many rooms, which allowed for them to be larger than many others. In most inns, space was a premium, making rooms smaller so there could be more.

  A large double bed, with a timber-post frame, took up most of the room, a small stone hearth in the corner. One window looked out to the south. A wardrobe stood against the wall, and a table with a washbasin. The hardwood floor was covered in a rug. Some kind of bear, Hall thought. White with streaks of brown.

  He quickly dressed in his new leather armor, strapping his sword to his belt, pulling on the harness that held his spear and two javelins. Timberhearth Keep was a friendly village, they were here as guests, but Hall still didn’t like going out unarmed or unarmored.

  Thick logs laid horizontally formed the walls, just as Hall remembered.

  Not that he had ever used a room at the Green Craobh before. There had been no need in the pre-Glitch world of Sky Realms Online. But he had been in them. A quest giver had been inside a room on the second floor, just off the stairs. Newton, a merchant, had been stuck in the keep. His wagons had been attacked in the forest, and the Rangers were too busy and shorthanded to help him. They would send a player to Newton for the quest, which would send them into the Elkheart Forest to search for the wagons.

  Not a difficult quest, but it was the start of a long chain that would earn a lot of reputation with the Greencloak Rangers when it was done. He wondered if Newton still existed.

  Walking out of the room, silently closing the door, Hall headed down the corridor. They were on the third floor, where the rooms with the double beds, the suites, were located. He made his way to the stairs, which were located in the middle of the floor, along the side wall between two rooms. Walking down the stairs, he passed the second floor, half tempted to see if the merchant was there. Later, he thought. The final flight down into the common room ran along the side wall.

  Hall stepped out into the Green Craobh’s large common room.

  He remembered using his Home Stone to teleport out of Dravogr the Icebane’s dungeon, in Firefrost Mountain, expecting to show up in the Green Craobh. Except instead of walking down from the rooms, he would have walked down from the inn’s portal room.

  He hadn’t.

  And the portal room didn’t exist anymore.

  That was the first difference Hall had noticed when they arrived the night before. There should have been two stairs emptying into the common room, one on each side. But there had only been the one up to the rooms. The bar had extended into the corner where the portal room stair had been located.

  A larger bar, larger common room.

  Empty at the moment, the day still early. A single waitress moved about the room, shifting tables, replacing candles and other chores to get ready for the breakfast crowd. Not that it would be that large a crowd.

  She looked up as Hall entered, smiling.

  “Good morning, my lord,” she said, giving a slight bow. “The morning meal will be ready in a few minutes.”

  He nodded, thanking her, walking over to the bar. Hall could smell the food coming from the kitchen. It made his stomach growl. He tried not to stare as he took a seat, thinking he recognized the waitress as one of the NPCs who had filled out the inn. Depending on the time of day, there were different NPCs who worked at the inn or were customers. He’d spent enough time in the Green Craobh that he had come to recognize the many NPCs. By how they looked if not by name.

  Hall did remember the name of the innkeeper. A large Gael man, not fat, but muscular. Bald on top, a ring of bright red hair, full beard that would have been the envy of any Dwarf. Bruce was his name.

  As if on cue, the door to the kitchen opened, and a large man walked out. Green wool pants, white shirt, tan apron. He carried a rag in one hand, polishing a pewter mug.

  Hall was relieved to see Bruce. He had seen a lot of changes to Hankarth, but the changes to Timberhearth Keep, his favorite town in the game, had really hit him hard. The more things changed, the more they stayed the same. Hall smiled.

  “Good morn’, my lord,” Bruce said, setting the mug down under the counter. “Breakfast will be ready soon. Chef is just finishing it up now. In the mean, can I get ye something ta drink? Juice or something a little stronger?”

  “Just juice, please,” Hall said, the innkeeper nodding.

  Bruce turned around, walking along the array of taps built out of the back wall, connected to kegs in the room beyond. Finding the one he wanted, placing a mug under it, Bruce turned on the tap.

  Hall watched the bartender. He was a little bothered by Bruce’s comment. The “my lord” part. Just another difference, but this was because of the game changing. It was because Hall had changed. Always before, Bruce had interacted with players by saying their name or “adventurer,” not “my lord.”

  But Hall was a lord now, and in this new post-Glitch world, Bruce didn’t know him. Hall had never been to Timberhearth Keep before in this new life.

  “Yer the ones gonna help our wee problem,” Bruce asked, setting the mug down.

  “Going to try,” Hall replied, taking a sip of the sweet juice.

  “Any help will be ’preciated,” Bruce said, walking toward the kitchen. “I’ll be back with a plate for ye.”

  Hall was finishing up the pancakes, swirling the last bite around in the syrup on his plate. The bacon was gone, the fruit as well. Jackoby had woken next, joining Hall at the bar. The big Firbolg was just starting to eat when the main door opened, Dain walking in.

  The Ranger, dressed in his leathers, green cloak over his shoulders, headed straight for the bar. He was unarmed, glancing at the weapons Hall was wearing, the shield and hammer next to Jackoby. He didn’t say anything. Raising his hand to Bruce, the innkeeper brought over a mug as Dain sat down.

  “Morning, Dain.”

  “Bruce.”

  “Would you like some food?”

  “No, thanks. Tell Roland that I’m sure it’s good, but I will have to pass.”

  Bruce nodded, disappearing into the kitchen.

  Hall cou
ld hear people walking down the stairs.

  “Good morning, Lord Hall.”

  “Dain,” Hall said, pushing his empty plate across the counter. “What time are we meeting with the council?”

  “An hour,” Dain replied. “Providing your people are all up and ready.”

  Dain led a small group up the mountain.

  Hall, Leigh and Sharra, who held the staff with Tulla’s cage.

  The morning was chill, the fog not yet burned off by the sun. Hall could feel the dampness, pulling his cloak tighter. Like his old, the new armor still didn’t have sleeves. He preferred it that way for fighting, but on mornings like this, he regretted it.

  Leigh, dressed in her leather skirt and halter top, legs and arms bare, didn’t seem to notice the chill. Part of being a Druid. Angus was back in the inn, lying in front of the fire in the common room. Hall looked up into the sky, trying to find Pike. Last he knew, the dragonhawk had been hunting in the mountains, interested in finding new creatures.

  Timberhearth loomed over them, built close to the edge of the mountain to the south and east. Hall could see the carved Roc on the ridge beam, extending out a couple of feet past the edge of the roof. They walked past the large building, the trail sloping up. It curved just ahead, rising steeply to the higher plateau and the keep itself. Braziers were still lit, either side of the trail, two Ranger guards standing before them.

  Dressed in a mix of chain and leather, the green cloaks hanging behind them, each of the guards had a sword belted at their waist, a bow over their shoulder and held a spear in hand. One wore a wooden helm with iron banding, a nose guard down the front and more iron under the eyes. They both eyed Hall and his companions warily. The presence of Dain gave them safe passage.